Ajmal unveils special Ramadan fragrance using premium quality Indian Agarwood Oil

Leading fragrance house in the region, Ajmal Perfumes, has announced the launch of Dahn Al Oudh Rabia Al Omr, a special fragrance for the season of Ramadan. Dahn Al Oudh Rabia Al Omr, which means ‘Spring of Youth,’ is created using premium quality Indian Agarwood Oil from an exclusive region in Assam, which in turn is blended with the finest Oudh from Laos and Cambodia, a statement from Ajmal said. Abdulla Ajmal, general manager of sales and marketing, at Ajmal Perfumes, said: “Dahn Al Oudh is a strong part of the heritage of the GCC and has constantly remained a favorite among our customers in the region, with a substantial portion of our sales belonging to this category of fragrance.” “Dahn Al Oudh Rabia Al Omr has been exclusively crafted for individuals who value a premium Oudh, with a desire to meet the sophistication that surrounds these users of premium oriental essences,” he added. The fragrance is available in all Ajmal stores as a 3ml regal oriental concentrate, and is priced at Dh750 ($204.2) per bottle. – TradeArabia News Service

Acqua di Parma Colonia Intensa Oud

Brands are getting quite territorial about oud, as if everyone needed to leave their mark on the oud-perfume map before they appear to have missed the grandiose beginnings of a new era in perfumery: Before Oud and After Oud. Acqua di Parma, reputed for their old-world charm and Cinecitta glamor, have left their usual reserve and floral series to manifest their sudden interest in agarwood with Acqua di Parma Intensa Oud. "An exclusive and elegant fragrance born from the authentic union of the vibrant and enveloping notes of Acqua di Parma Colonia Intensa with Oud oil, an extremely rare oil extracted from agarwood, a precious resin of the aquilaria tree. Colonia Intensa Oud Concentrée opens with a citrus aroma before revealing its extraordinary personality of a heart full of precious ingredients such as agarwood, Russian coriander and Haitian amyris wood. This structured blend evolves into musk and leather. A new interpretation is born - Eau de Cologne Concentrée." The composition is described as a flanker to Acqua di Parma Colonia Intensa with the simple addition of oud oil, so the idea is quite streamlined and economical. Oud has become the indispensable spice in perfumery as we can see, or rather smell.

Agarwood More Precious Than Gold

Agarwood are harvested from the wild and because it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to see whether a tree contains agarwood or not most of the Aquilaria trees are chopped down indiscriminately.

Since thousands of years, there has been an ever motivating expedition for agarwood exploitation across Asia as traders continuously search for untouched forests containing Aquilaria trees. The trees were fetching high prices and as a result, the news about agarwood harvesting spread like ‘gold fever’. Large amounts of money were offered to the forest natives, the traditional producers of agarwood.

For some years the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has listed all Aquilaria species in its Appendix II to control the import and export of agarwood.

Cultivated Agarwood

One of the solutions to curb increasing demand and decreasing supply is to cultivate agarwood.

Many agarwood producing countries are going into agarwood cultivation. But due to the deliberate human inducing method on the Aquilaria Trees and short time to harvest.

The quality of the cultivated agarwood are inferior to those of natural wild agarwood. In terms of colour, the body looks white with black/brown resin in the centre. The oil from cultivated agarwood are light brown and transparent compared to black opaque colour i.e. Aquilaria Crassna agarwood oil.

Fake Agarwood

Agarwood trading becomes more and more lucrative in the market due to its rare existence and value. Fake agarwood products start to flood the market. These products are in fact made from non-infected Aquilaria wood which has been impregnated with cheap oil and coloured by human interventions. It requires a trained professional to differentiate real agarwood from these fake agarwood using smell and physical observations.

Some fake sellers sell resinous wood piece of Excoecaria Agollocha tree in agarwood market and call it agarwood. Excoecaria Agollocha also known as fish poison has a milky sap which is poisonous. Although it belongs to the same botanical class as agarwood producing trees but it is under a different classification.

Illegal logging for agarwood continues in forest reserve

GEORGE TOWN, Malaysia: The illegal felling of trees is still ongoing in the forest reserve in Cherok Tokun, Bukit Mertajam and Bukit Panchor, with suspected involvement of foreign syndicates.

Despite the arrest of eight men on Sept 3, all Malaysians, syndicates are carrying out illegal chopping for agar wood to extract gaharu oil, which is sold in the Middle East at RM140 for every 10ml, said Penang state health, welfare, caring society and environment committee chairman Phee Boon Poh.

The oil is used as medicine and perfume.

Source: TheStar

Agarwood used in latest extrait fragrances

James Heeley is launching three new extrait strength fragrances: Agarwood, L’Amandiere and Bubblegum Chic. Heeley said that he wanted to do a line in higher concentration than his standard line, as some ingredients work better in that form.

Bubblegum Chic contains jasmine sambac, tuberose and white musk. Heeley also lists some other ‘ingredients’, which he says are things that inspired the fragrance (and I’m pretty sure these aren’t okay with IFRA...)- these are: Extrait de Glamour, Pink, Passion, Lips, Mouth, Soft, Warmth, Omniverous, Sparkle, Appetite, Forbidden, Fun, Fatale, Fruit, Desire, Smile, Sweet, Skin, Shining, Intoxicate, Insatiable, Girls.

L’Amandiere contains green almond, hyacinth, rose and jasmine. Other ‘ingredients’ are extrait de spring, clear, joy, air, blossom, growth, orchard, almonds, pretty, morning, green, grass, silver, dew, mayflowers, bluebells, trees, wild violets, hyacinths, night, jasmine, faith, light, night, day, love.

Agarwood - Heeley seemed slightly apologetic about making an oud fragrance but in his defense he started on this about four years ago - notes are: benzoin, rose, oud, cedarwood, amber. Also included are: Extrait de devotion, serenity, eagle, prayer, space, meditation, temple, prince, Siddhartha, gold, dark, wood, forest, power, mind, fertility, mist, rising, control, wealth, poverty, spirit, forever.

I quite like the idea of these alternative ingredients - as while hardcore perfume fans may know what oud and benzoin, for example, smell like - most people have no idea, they’d be more likely to get an idea of the fragrance from the alternate notes. And you’ve got to love any fragrance that lists ‘eagle’ and ‘power’ in its ingredients list!